Pomona
Greek name: None. Pomona is Roman exclusive. Portrayed by: Brantley Ivey Pomona was a wood nymph and the goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards. She is the wife of Vertumnus, god of springtime. Appearence In most depictions, Pomona is portrayed as a beautiful young woman with dark hair. Her clothing is usually in warm colors, such as orange or yellow, or more earthy colors like green or brown. She is almost always surrounded by ripened fruits and blooming flowers, and small bits of vegetation can be seen in her clothes and hair. She is a goddess who appears ONLY in Roman mythology, so she has no Greek equivalent or name. Pomona and Vertumnus Residing in a sacred grove, known as a Pomonal, Pomona would often be approached by would-be suitors to her, but she would always turn them away. One such suitor was the forest god Silvanus, but even he was rejected. The handsome king Picus, who was often saught after by wood nymphs, tried to woo her as well, but she still turned him away. Finally, came the god of springtime, Vertumnus. Too shy to approach her himself, Vertumnus often tried to get close to Pomona by shifting his form into various disguises. All of these disguises were rejected by Pomona. Finally, Vertumnus disguised himself as an old woman, and was able to get close to Pomona, advising her to find a husband. To convince her, he told her the story of Iphis and Anaxarete, in which a young man, Iphis, daily visited the doorstep of a woman he loved named Anaxarete. Every time he came to her door, he would confess his love to her. Eventually having enough of it, Anaxarete bitterly rejected his advances, horribly mocking him. Iphis, thrown into despair, eventually hanged himself in her doorway. Anaxarete, unmoved by his suicide, continued to mock Iphis even at his funeral. In response, Aphrodite changed Anaxarete into a stone statue to reflect her cold interior. After finishing the story, Vertumnus gives Pomona a kiss on the cheek. Pomona, however, immediately saw through the disguise, knowing that the kiss was much too warm and soft to come from an old woman. She forced Vertumnus to remove his disguise, and when he did, she fell in love with him. The two were eventually married (Ovid, Trans. More). Metamorphoses In the play by Mary Zimmerman, Pomona's story is one of the 11 stories featured. In this version, Vertumnus tells Pomona the story of Cinyras and Myrrha, rather than Anaxarete and Iphis. She is played by the First Woman (Zimmerman, 2002). Vertumnalia Pomona and her husband share a festival day known as Vertumnalia, which took place on the 13th of August. It was a merry affair, accompanied by dancing and the consumption of fresh fruits (Ovid). References Ovid. Fasti Book VI. Ovid. "METMORHOSES BOOK 14, TRANS. BY BROOKES MORE." Classical E-Text: OVID, METAMORPHOSES 14. Trans. Brooks More. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014. Zimmerman, Mary, David R. Slavitt, and Ovid. Metamorphoses: A Play. Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP, 2002. Print.